It Was Just a Mistake
by BollywoodRocks
Summary: Troy and Gabriella are the perfect couple, right? Well, in walked in Troy’s ex girlfriend, Brooke, and their relationship goes haywire. Will their friends knock some sense into Troy before he makes the biggest mistake of his life? Troyella, Chaylor, Ze
1. I am the Luckiest Girl in the World

**Summary- **Troy and Gabriella are the perfect couple, right? Well, in walked in Troy's ex-girlfriend, Brooke, and their relationship goes haywire. Will their friends knock some sense into Troy before he makes the biggest mistake of his life? Troyella, Chaylor, Zekepay, Jelsi, RyanOC

**It was Just a Mistake**

**Chapter 1- I am the Luckiest Girl in the World**

It was July, and as usual, Troy was playing basketball with his friends Chad, Zeke, and Jason. They had been playing for a while until Chad said, "Dude it's 4! You'd better be going. You _do _want this to be a surprise, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. See you." Troy said as he jumped into his Acura MDX and drove off. Gabriella, his girlfriend and a gifted ballet dancer, was dancing as Odette in the Swan Princess. Ballet wasn't really Troy's thing, and Gabriella knew that. However, Troy really loved his girlfriend, and he knew that it would make her really happy if he was there to watch her dance. He went home and quickly dressed in a nice blue shirt and pants. As much as he hated ballet, he couldn't help himself from being excited.

He arrived just in time for the show. He sat next to Gabriella's mom, Rhea. Gabriella's dance was absolutely breathtaking he couldn't believe that she was so good. Her dance was flawless and graceful. While watching her dance, he realized how much he loved her.

After the show, he hurried to see her. He found out where the dressing room was from her mother. Meanwhile, Gabriella had been waiting patiently to change. Victoria, a friend of hers/dancer, was busily making out with her boyfriend right in front of the dressing room. Gabriella waited for them to come up for air. "Of all the nerve." She mumbled. Troy crept up silently behind her, held her waist, and spun her around.

'TROY! You came. I can't believe it! What made you come?" she screamed. She didn't notice that everyone around her had covered up their ears.

"When Sharpay told me you were awesome, I just had to come. I'm sorry I didn't come earlier." Troy said. "Besides, the gang wants to meet up for an early dinner. I came to escort a lovely lady."

"Well, let me get changed first." she said. She just couldn't take it anymore. "Victoria! Can I please use the dressing room?" Victoria looked at her sheepishly.

"Sorry." she said. She then moved out of the way. Gabriella went in to change. Troy turned around to find a Katrina Stevens, a rival of Gabriella's, and her gang right behind him.

"OMG, you're Troy Bolton, aren't you? I can't believe you came to see me dance. You are soooooo sweet!" she said.

"Um, I didn't…"

"Look it's no big deal. You don't have to be shy. Why don't we ditch this place and have some dinner?" Katrina squeaked.

_"Oh God." Troy thought._

Meanwhile in Gabriella's dressing room

Gabriella's cell phone started to ring just as she finished changing into a turquoise chiffon halter top and white capris. It was Sharpay.

"Hey Sharpay!" Gabriella said.

"Hey Gabi. Look, slight change of plans. We are meeting at the Café Bavaria in fifteen minutes. Then, we are going to go see Bobby at the theater. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, no problem. Troy and I are just about to leave." Gabriella said. Gabriella exited the dressing room only to find Katrina Stevens practically on top of her poor boyfriend. _"Gabriella to the rescue," _she thought.

"Anyways, so I cannot believe the hottest guy at East High is here to see me…" Katrina droned on.

"Uh, well I was trying to say…" Troy started.

"Troy, honey! Gabriella sang out. Katrina looked horrified. Gabriella walked up to Troy and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. Then she hugged him.

"What are you doing?" Troy whispered while Gabriella hugged him.

"Rescuing you," Gabriella whispered back. She let him go. "OMG, I didn't see you there, Katrina. I see you've met Troy, my boyfriend." She asked in a snobbish voice.

"Yeah, whatever, let's go, girls." Katrina huffed and walked away.

Gabriella turned to Troy and smiled. "You're welcome." she said. "Come on. A certain Miss Evans is expecting us at Café Bavaria, and you know what she'll do if we're late." Troy smiled and nodded. He took her hand in his, and they walked out of the theater.

**A.N. **How do you like it? I know it looks all fluffy. It will get more exciting later. It was also eventually have some songs in it. Bear with me and please review!


	2. The Gang

**The Gang**

Troy and Gabriella entered Café Bavaria hand-in-hand only to meet up with a _very_ angry Sharpay. "Where have you been?" she shrieked (Think Molly Weasley in the 2nd Harry Potter movie but only ten times louder),

"Sorry, you know I was in the ballet." Gabriella said. She shrunk back in fear. Sharpay could be well, a little intimidating at times. A life lived without irritating Sharpay Evans was an accomplished life.

"Like that excuses you?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, baby, it's not a big deal. Let it go." Zeke said soothingly. He put his arm around her.

"Forget it, buddy, they have got me extremely pissed off. They owe us an apology."

"Baby…" Zeke turned Sharpay to face him. He looked into her eyes with baby eyes and a pouty smile.

Sharpay sighed. "Whatever." She sat down next to Zeke and put her head on his shoulder.

"So, what's up guys?" Troy said to the rest of the group, who until now they had ignored.

"The sky." Chad said. Taylor elbowed him. "What?????" Chad yelled.

"Get over yourself, fool!" Taylor yelled back. They went on arguing for a few minutes until Chad gave up and kissed Taylor. They were all lovey-dovey a moment later.

Kelsi sighed. _"Won't they ever grow up?" _she thought. Jason had asked her out only about two months earlier. He had been to shy to ask her out. However, they were not too into PDA or generally acting like Tom and Katie (nothing against them, really just saying). That was just the way Chad was.

"So who's up for the beach tomorrow?" Sharpay said. (I don't know if there are any beaches in Albuquerque, let's just pretend there are.)

"Sure, the guys and I have to go there anyways." Troy said. Troy was a lifeguard at the beach, and so was Chad. Zeke and Jason were assisting the athletic director of the beach (don't know if beaches have athletic directors, but work with me.) They helped organize beach games for kids.

"Uh, no thanks." Ryan suddenly said. Everyone turned to Ryan. No one had noticed he was even there.

"Why not?" Jason asked.

"Um, maybe because I don't have a girlfriend, and I feel retarded being the third wheel, wait a minute make that the ninth wheel."

"Don't worry, bro. You'll get a girlfriend, soon. You just have to wait till the right one shows up. In the mean time…YOU ARE COMING TO THE BEACH WITH US OR HELP ME GOD I WILL TELL YOUR NEXT GIRLFRIEND ABOUT THE 'THRILLER' INCIDENT!" she screamed. Everyone in the restaurant turned towards her. She smiled at the people. Zeke buried his face in his hands.

"Fine, whatever. Please don't tell anyone about the 'Thriller' thing." Ryan said sheepishly.

"What 'Thriller' thing?" Chad asked with a smirk on his face.

"Well, Ryan loves to do the 'Thriller' dance when he thinks no one is watching him. He has even added some, ahem, 'sexy' moves, shall we say? He thinks that they will impress girl." Sharpay said.

"Shar!" Ryan shrieked. Once again, people turned around, and Zeke's face went back into his hands. Some mumbling came out from his mouth on the lines of "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Oops." Sharpay said with a smirk.

**A.N. **I know you might be waiting for Brooke to come. I think I'll do one more summer chapter, then I will add her in. Please review!


	3. Beach Babes

**AN- **I forgot to mention. The gang is about to enter they're senior year. Sorry! Also I'd like to thank Kirsty511 and TroynGabi for putting me on their favorites list!

**Beach Babes**

Gabriella had overslept…again. Her cell was ringing off the hook. She knew it was Sharpay about to chew her out. She didn't feel like getting a lecture. She fell asleep for another fifteen minutes. She woke up again to a sudden knock on her balcony door. She got up to bed, mumbling, "Of all the people I chose to be my friends, I chose them." She stopped short when she saw it was Troy.

She opened the door to her balcony. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Sharpay sent me to be your personal wake-up call. She is once again extremely pissed off." Troy answered while entering Gabriella's room.

"Well, can't you use the front door like normal people? My name's Gabi Montez, not Juliet Capulet. My mother's not arch enemies with your parents she will let you use out front door…" Troy interrupted her with a kiss. "Why do you think kissing solves everything?"

"Cause, it does. Now, get ready. We need to be at the beach in twenty minutes."

"Ok, ok I'm going." Troy sat down on her bed while she went into her bathroom to change.

At the Beach

"So, now I know how to wake you up." Sharpay said.

Gabriella smirked. "Thanks a lot." Sharpay smiled.

"Where are the guys?" Gabriella said.

"Well, Troy is being a lifeguard. Chad is pretending to be one. Zeke and Jason are playing beach volleyball. And Ryan's lost in his own self pity." Taylor replied.

"I AM NOT!" Ryan yelled.

"Yeah, you are." Kelsi said.

Nearby, a group of girls from West High were shrieking over Troy. Gabriella recognized one of them as being Gwen Thorsland. She was the head prep at West High (**AN-nothing against preps, either. Some of the preps at my school are really nice. However, Gwen is mean. Keep that in mind. She does not represent all the preps in the world.**) Gabriella heard Gwen saying, "OMG, there's Troy Bolton. He is even hotter up close. He's looking at us with that _seductive smile._"(**AN- Ha Ha. Couldn't help myself. I heard someone in my school say that.**)

Well, obviously Gwen didn't notice Gabriella standing not too far behind her. Gabriella sighed, "I am so used to hearing this. 'Troy is so hot!' Every girl around him flirts with him, and then puts a scandalized face on when I say I'm his girlfriend."

"Well, I get the same thing, too. I mean, I am a huge nerd. I am dating Chad Danforth, the main guard on the basketball team that won Nationals. Of course, everybody's shocked."

"I get the same thing, too." Kelsi said.

They all turned to look at Sharpay. "What, of course everyone can believe I date a basketball player. I mean, why wouldn't I be?" Sharpay said. The other girls groaned. "But because you mentioned it, why don't you guys have some fun with Gwen and her peeps?" The girls nodded in agreement. "Ok, so here's what we're going to do…"

Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi walked up to Gwen.

"OMG, Gwen it's been too long." Sharpay yelled.

"Sharpay Evans, OMG, you haven't changed. That's a shame." Gwen replied. "Well, that obviously means you haven't got a boyfriend. That's a pity." Gwen looked at Ryan in the distance. "Well, you're brother obviously doesn't have a girlfriend, so well, you can keep each other company."

Sharpay was about to attack Gwen, but Taylor and Kelsi held her back. "Oh my god, you're Gwen Thorsland, like the coolest girl in West High. No wonder a guy like Troy Bolton would check you out!" Gabriella said.

"And you are?" Gwen said.

"I'm Gabriella Montez, and these are Taylor McKessie and Kelsi Nielson. OMG, I think Troy's looking at me…"

"Yeah right," Gwen said.

Meanwhile with the guys

"What the hell are our girlfriends doing with Gwen Thorsland?" Chad exclaimed.

"I don't know, man." Troy replied. Jason nodded in agreement.

Ryan jogged up to them. "Well, actually they are being really stupid. They are just trying to put Gwen in her place. I wasn't sent by Shar to get you guys to come over there." Ryan turned to go towards the girls.

"What now?" Jason said as he started to follow Ryan with Troy, Chad, and Zeke not too far behind him.

When they reached the girls, the guys were stopped by Gwen. "Troy, wow, you look fabulous. I must say, you get hotter each day." **(AN- a little blunt, isn't she?) **

"Thanks, Gwen, for the compliment. Now," he said turning to the girls, "who are the fine young girls, are they new? I think I've seen them around."

Gwen looked mad. "Um, they go to East High with you. That's Gabriella Montez. She's on the um, Scholastic Decathlon Team. That's probably why you don't know…" She was stopped short when Troy walked towards Gabi.

"Gabriella, such a pretty name." Troy said, winking to Gabi.

"You can call me Gabi." She replied in a flirty voice.

"Gabi, whatcha doing?" Troy said.

"Well actually Troy…" she looked at Gwen, "I am absolutely starving. I need nourishment!" Gwen looked horrified.

"Oh, my baby's hungry? Chad and I get off our shift in fifteen minutes. Can you wait that long?"

"Yeah, I guess." Gabriella said. Troy kissed her and left.

Chad walked up to Taylor and hugged her. "Whose idea was this?" he whispered.

"Sharpay," she whispered back. Chad and Taylor walked hand-in-hand to the lifeguard station.

Sharpay turned to Gwen. "Oh, Gwen, about the whole thing about me not having a boyfriend, I'd like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Zeke Baylor. He is the main center on the basketball team. Zeke, let's go. Jason, Kesl, you coming?" Jason and Kesli nodded, and they waved to Gwen and her peeps and followed Sharpay and Zeke.

**A.N. I know this chapter was a bit longer. I hoped you like it. I would really appreciate reviews, and I'd love to hear your ideas!**


	4. The Arrival of Brooke

**AN- **Ok, finally, Brooke has come. Thanks for all the hits people! I am begging you, review, so I get some kind of feedback. Also the lines in italics are Brooke's thoughts.

**Chapter 4- The Arrival of Brooke.**

It was the first day of school, and Gabriella was excited. The same thing could not be said in regards to Troy.

"I don't wanna go back. I mean basketball season doesn't start until October! I don't have anything for the next two months. Waahh!" he cried on his way to school. He was driving Gabriella, too.

'Troy, are you done yet? Could you please return to reality? It doesn't matter what you "wanna" do, you have to go back to school." Gabriella replied. She had had to listen to this crap for the last ten minutes. "Besides we are going to be seniors this year. It'll be the best year ever!"

"I guess you are right. We'll be the bosses this year. No one to push us around." Troy said.

"Um…Troy, you've been the star basketball player since sophomore year. I think you've always been the boss, and I don't think anyone's tried to push you around." she replied.

"Whatever," he said as they pulled into the school. They arrived just in time for the first bell. They walked hand-in-hand into Mrs. Darbus' room where they met up with the rest of the gang for homeroom. Taylor and the girls discussed class schedules, while the guys minus Ryan, were complaining about how they were going to last until October. Gabriella was relieved that she had most of her classes with Taylor and a few with Troy. The bell rang dismissing them to their first period.

Meanwhile

"Welcome back, Miss Xavier." the principal said. (**AN- anyone remember his name?**)

Brooke put on a fake smile and said, "It's great to be back." Brooke Xavier had moved to New York City with her father in the middle of sophomore year due to her parent's divorce. She had decided now to move back to Albuquerque to live with her mom. She had been Troy Bolton's girlfriend, but she had broken up with him before she left. At that point, she didn't care. Troy Bolton was a nobody then. He wasn't the famous basketball player he was now.

However, now everything had changed. Brooke had seen his picture in the paper after he had led the Wildcats to victory at the Nationals. After that she decided to come back to live in Albuquerque for one reason- to get Troy Bolton back.

She wandered the halls to find Mr. Owen's chemistry class. "_I hope Troy's in that class. I mean it shouldn't be hard to get him back. He couldn't get a more befitting girlfriend,_"she thought. As she looked for her class, she could have sworn she saw Jason Cross holding hands with Kelsi Nielson. "_What's Jason doing with that drama geek? No, I must have seen wrong…"_

She finally got to her class. The first people she saw were Ryan Evans and Zeke Baylor. They were…talking. She chose a seat near them to hear what a drama person and a jock could possibly be talking about.

"So, what's Darbus doing for the fall musical?" Zeke asked.

_"Why does Zeke care about a stupid musical?"_ she thought.

"I'm not sure. She's considering "Mamma Mia." Ryan said. He noticed Zeke's blank stare. "The one with the ABBA music. But like I said I don't know. Just ask Shar when you see her or Troy."

_"What the hell?????? Why would Troy know?"_

Zeke replied, "Oh, ok. I'll just ask Shar."

_"Since when did Zeke call Sharpay, Shar? I didn't know they even talked."_

The bell rang to start the class. Mr. Owen started calling out roll. "Zeke Baylor, Tony Cardollini, Priscilla Davidson, Ryan Evans, (etc)… Brooke Xavier…."

Zeke and Ryan snapped to attention when they heard Brooke's name. "Oh, oh." Ryan whispered. The class ended soon, and Zeke and Ryan rushed out of the class.

Brooke's next class was calculus. Jason Cross and Kelsi Nielson were in it. She observed them. They were sitting awfully close, and they kept smiling and giggling at each other. _"Ok, these two are definitely a couple. How did this happen? What about sticking to the status quo? _**(AN- once again couldn't help myself)** _This can't be right."_

Once again when the roll was called, and Brooke's name was called, Jason and Kelsi looked horrified. And once again when the bell rang, they rushed out of class. _"They know something I don't. I will find out."_ she thought.

It was time for senior free period. _"Finally, I may see Troy. He's probably practicing in the gym."_ She walked towards the gym. In the hallway, she saw a definite familiar face and scene. It was Chad Danforth flirting with…Taylor MCKESSIE?!! _"What the hell? This is definitely wrong. What are Chad and Taylor doing in the same hallway? I didn't know Chad knew who Taylor was. I have to do something. I could handle Jason and Kelsi, but I can't handle this."_

"So, where do you want to go for our date on Friday?" Chad asked.

"I don't know, maybe that new southwestern grill or something…" Taylor said.

"Chaddie!" Brooke interrupted. Chad and Taylor turned towards her, looking disgusted.

"Brooke…I thought you moved far, far, far away." Chad said.

"Well, I'm back. Anyways, I just wanted to say that it so nice to see you being nice to someone like Taylor. I mean," she looked at Taylor, "she's not the type to be around normal civilization. I thought she spent all her time in the chemistry lab."

Taylor looked like she was about to kill Brooke. Chad held her arm firmly. "Actually, Brooke, she's my girlfriend. So, I guess she is part of normal civilization." Chad responded.

"Wow, who would have thought? Anyways, where might I find Troy?" she asked sweetly.

"We don't know. As you can see, we were a bit busy before you interrupted. So please, excuse us." Taylor said. She took Chad by the hand, and sped off.

_"I think I'll head to the gym."_

Meanwhile at the gym

"Good shot," Gabriella said as Troy shot a perfect three-pointer. "Only like 100 more of those, and we can talk to the NBA."

"Oh, real nice, Gabi." Troy said pretending to sulk.

"Just kidding, sweetie. But on a more serious note, someone's got to keep you humble, Bolton. And I am afraid that I'm the only one capable of doing that." Gabriella replied.

The two of them didn't notice Brooke walking in. _"Oh, there's Troy. WHO IS THAT GIRL WITH HIM? He couldn't have gotten himself another girlfriend. How dare he?"_

"Oh so you're the only one competent enough to keep me unpretentious?" Troy said.

"Wow, Troy, where did you learn such difficult words? I don't think it was Darbus." Gabriella mocked him.

"Why you…" he dropped his ball, and swung her around. Then he hugged her. Gabriella had closed her eyes during the hug, but when she opened her eyes, she saw Brooke standing there.

"Who's that…?" she whispered.

"Who's who…?" Troy started to say.

"OMG, Troy, baby!" Brooke screeched. Troy groaned. She ran up to him and hugged him. "I can't believe it's you. You've gotten so hot!" She looked at Gabriella. "Who's your little friend?'

Troy put his arm around Gabriella. "This is Gabriella Montez, my girlfriend." He turned to Gabriella. "Gabi, this is Brooke Xavier. She's an ex-class…"he started to say.

"I'm his ex-girlfriend." Brooke said.

"Oh nice to meet you." Gabriella said. She stuck out her hand to shake Brooke. Brooke looked at it in disgust. _"Gabriella Montez, I will crush you."_ she thought as she walked towards the cafeteria.

Later at Lunch

Kelsi and Jason walked in to the cafeteria. They found Ryan and Sharpay already over there. Ryan was devouring a cheeseburger and French fries. Sharpay was eating…nothing.

"Hey, guys." Kelsi and Jason said.

"Hi." the twins said back.

"Shar, why didn't you get a lunch?" Kelsi said.

"I'm on a diet." Sharpay said.

"Oh, so did you bring your lunch?" Jason asked.

"Nope," she replied while looking at her nails.

"Sharpay Christine Evans, are you on one of those crash diets? Are you trying to starve yourself? That is not going to help." Kelsi exclaimed.

"Kelsi, I am not starving myself." Sharpay responded.

"You are not eating a school lunch, nor did you bring a lunch. That's because you are not planning on eating!" Kelsi said.

"Kels, that's not true!" Sharpay said.

"You are coming with me and buying a lunch right now!" Kelsi retorted.

"Forget it, Nielson." Sharpay turned to Jason. "Cross, please control your girlfriend."

"Don't look at me, I am not getting involved," said Jason. He started eating a burrito.

Zeke entered the gym, and walked to them. "Hi, baby," he said to Sharpay and kissed her on the cheek. "Here's your lunch." He handed her a bag filled with an avocado sandwich, Wheat Thins, stuffed tomatoes, a bean salad, and fruit salad for dessert.

"Thanks, hon. You do know how to spoil me." Sharpay said. She turned to Kelsi. "Happy, Nielson?"

"Very." Kelsi replied before starting to eat her lunch.

Chad and Taylor walked in looking very worried. They walked up to the gang and plopped down in two seats.

"What's up, guys?" Sharpay asked.

"You wouldn't believe who came back…" Taylor stared

"Sharpay Evans!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Damn it." Sharpay whispered. She put on a fake smile and said, "Brooke, how nice to see you again. I thought you moved far, far, far away."

"Yeah, I was living in NYC, but I missed Albuquerque too much." Brooke said. "But I would be lying if I said I missed you."

"Thank god, and here I was dreading the fact I'd have to be nice to you. Thank you for taking that load off." Sharpay retorted back.

Brooke smirked and started to walk off. "Oh Brooke!" Sharpay said. Brooke turned around. "What was it you said before you moved? I was a Brooke Xavier wannabe, who'd never get a boyfriend? Well, look who's talking now! Brooke Xavier, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Zeke Baylor!" Sharpay gave Zeke a forceful kiss on the lips. He didn't seem to mind.

_"What the hell is going on in this school? Drama geeks and nerds dating basketball players? Well, all that's going to change now that Brooke Xavier is here!"_ Brooke thought as she walked away.

**AN- **I hoped you enjoyed it. It was a bit longer than the other chapters. Please review, and I thank those who did!


	5. Author's Note

**AN- Sorry I forgot to put this in the first chapter! Don't sue me!**

**DISCLAIMER- **I do not, I repeat I do not own any characters from High School Musical, except for Brooke, Katrina, Gwen, and Victoria.

Once again, I'm sorry.


	6. The Rise and Fall of Troy Bolton

**AN-**Sorry about the last "chapter." I knew some of you were disappointed. Ok so well here's the real chapter, and as a treat it is a bit longer. Once again the words in italics are Brooke's thoughts. The words in bold and italics are Troy's thoughts. I also made Mrs. Darbus their English teacher because in my high school, the drama teacher is also an English teacher.

**Disclaimer- **I do not own any of the original HSM characters, only the ones I made up.

**Chapter 5- **The Rise and Fall of Troy Bolton

Brooke came home later that day in rage. She threw her bag against the wall, and she flopped on her Gucci-sheeted bed. _"How dare Troy move on, especially to one like Gabriella Montez? I have to do something quick. Troy seems to love her, and I refuse to accept defeat! What should I do? I just need to be with Troy alone, but he wouldn't voluntarily do that. Oh I know! This is going to be great…"_

The next day Brooke came to school and examined the students of East High. _"I am definitely going to need some help. But who to ask?" _ She found a member of the wrestling team, Brett Davis, who was perfect for the job. _"Now, to get Brettie onto my side."_

"Brett, darling!" Brooke called out as she walked towards the 240 pound wrestling champ. "How have you been doing? I missed you soooo much!"

"Uh, hi Brooke. What's up?" Brett asked.

"Brett, I need you to do a job for me. I'll pay you fifty bucks for it." Brooke said. "And if it goes well, I'll even throw a date with me in."

That perked Brett up. "Sure Brooke, anything for you. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to…" Brooke said.

In Mrs. Darbus' English Class

Brooke had English with Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, and Chad. She sat on the across from Troy, and spent the entire time staring at Troy and imagining being his girlfriend.

Troy, however, was a little too preoccupied to notice Brooke staring at him. He was watching a certain someone with long, curly chocolate colored hair. He loved the way Gabriella took her hair and twisted it around her fingers.

"Was Othello destined to kill Desdemona? Was Emilia bound to help her husband? What do you think…" Mrs. Darbus scanned the classroom and saw Troy drooling over Gabriella, "Mr. Bolton?"

Troy didn't seem to have heard, and this made Mrs. Darbus mad! No one was going to zone out Mrs. Darbus if she had say in it! "Mr. Bolton!" she screamed. Troy head shot up. "Mr. Bolton, I am sure we would all agree that Miss Montez is extremely beautiful, but must we stare at her during English class?" Gabriella looked at Troy and gave him a harsh look.

Suddenly, the principal (**AN- still can't remember his name!)** came on the intercom and said, "Students and faculty, a situation has come up, and we must evacuate the building. Please do so in an orderly fashion." Of course, the opposite happened. Everyone in the class freaked out, and ran out of the room. Troy got a hold of Gabriella, and Chad held Taylor's hand as they ran out the door.

"Troy! Troy, wait for us!" Troy could hear Kelsi's voice at some part of the mob. He stopped for minute, and let of Gabriella's hand to see where Kelsi's voice was coming from. He finally spotted Jason leading Kelsi through the crowd.

"Oh, we're so glad to see you!" Jason said.

"Um, we really don't have time to talk. We need to get out quick. Chad and Taylor have already gone." Troy said as he prepared to join the mob.

"Uh, Troy, where's Gabi? I could have sworn she was here a minute ago." Kelsi suddenly said.

Meanwhile

When Troy had let of Gabriella's hand, Brett was quick to catch her and drag her to a secluded place in the school. He made sure he had covered her mouth to ensure that she didn't scream, but in the mob, no one would have heard her anyway. He also had a mask over his head, so that she couldn't see who he was.

When he finally got to his intended destination he pushed Gabi against the wall.

"You planned this all, didn't you?" Gabriella asked.

"Very good, so the genius stories are true. Yes, I did." Brett replied evilly.

"Who are you, and what do you want from me?" Gabriella said.

"Like I'd tell you who I was, so you could blab it to someone. Calm down, baby, all I want to do is this." Brett punch Gabi in the stomach quite a few times until he was sure he had knocked the wind out of her, and that she wouldn't get it back soon. He let her slide down the wall, and he walked away.

Back to Troy

"Oh shit." Troy said to Jason and Kelsi. He started to move against the mob.

"Troy, what are you doing?" Jason yelled, but Troy didn't hear him.

As Troy fought to move against the mob, he came across Zeke running with … pink high heals in his hand. He was relieved to see Sharpay running with bare feet not far behind him.

"Uh, dude, the crowd is moving this way." Zeke yelled through the crowd.

"I think something's wrong with Gabi. I have to go find her." Troy yelled back.

"Are you crazy?" Sharpay yelled, but Troy once again hadn't heard her.

Troy moved to the end of the crowd and moved left to find a rather abandoned entrance to an old science lab. He gasped when he saw Gabriella sitting on the floor struggling to breathe. Gabriella looked up.

"Troy, what are you doing here?" she croaked.

"I should ask you the same question." Troy said as he walked towards her.

"Save yourself. I can't get out. Just go."

"Not without you, babe." he said as he stood next to her.

"Don't be stupid…" she started to say, but Troy had already picked her up (bridal style) and started to run down the hall.

Meanwhile back to everyone's favorite 'fro boy and the rest of the gang

"Where are Troy and Gabi?" Taylor asked for the zillionth time.

"Zeke, could I have me shoes back?" Sharpay asked for the zillionth time.

"No, I think you are cute when you're barefoot." Zeke answered for the zillionth time.

"I'm hungry." said 'fro boy for the zillionth time.

"Oh, oh, I think I left my spare hat in the classroom," said Ryan for the zillionth time.

Brooke walked up to them and said sweetly, "Chaddie, have you seen Troy? I haven't seen him, and I am in some desperate need of some comforting."

Chad looked disgusted and said, "Sorry, haven't seen him, but I'm sure there's some guy out here who's single and would love to comfort you." Brooke frowned and stamped off.

Ryan started walking towards Brooke. "Brooke, baby, you need some comforting? I am here…" he started to say, but his twin held him back.

"Ryan, what the hell are you doing?" Sharpay whispered fiercely.

"I know you don't like her, but let's not forget that I am in desperate need of a girlfriend." Ryan replied.

Suddenly, Jason yelled, "There they are!" He pointed towards Troy and Gabriella. The gang ran towards them. They slowed down when they saw Coach Bolton go up to the couple first. "Now, he's in for it." Jason whispered to Kelsi, who nodded in agreement. Troy had put Gabriella down. When she saw Coach Bolton's face, she quickly ran to the girls who engulfed her in a hug.

"Chad told me you went back. How could you be so stupid? You could have been in danger. I feel like screaming at you, but I won't," Coach Bolton said, which caused Troy's face to go blank. "Because I'm just too proud of you."

Troy smiled and said, "Thanks." Troy turned and ran to the gang.

"So, what happened?" Taylor asked Gabriella.

"Well, some guy in a mask dragged me away from the mob to the entrance of the old science lab. Then, he just punched me a few times until I got the wind knocked out of me. Then, he ran away, and that's when Troy found me. And he insisted on taking me with him." The girls sighed, and Gabriella turned to Troy, and smiled. "Thanks, hon." She kissed him just as the principal motioned them all to go back inside.

Brooke was watching all of this. _"Damn it! My plan failed. I should have known that Troy wouldn't just leave Gabriella like that. Well, now I am just going to have to put some effort in and seduce Troy." _

For the next few days, Brooke followed Troy everywhere, hoping she could get a few moments alone with Troy. _"That Gabriella girl clings on to him, and he doesn't go anywhere without her. I wish I could get him alone!"_

Her wish came true one day when Brooke saw Troy alone in the mall. She followed him around all over the mall, and he started to feel uncomfortable. Finally, he tried to escape her by running into the elevator. She ran right behind him, and she caught it just in time. They were traveling to the floor above, when suddenly the elevator broke down. The manager came over the intercom and said, "I am sorry, but it is going to take some time to get you guys out. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Brooke sat down next to Troy. _"This is my perfect opportunity!" _ She said to Troy, "Why have you been avoiding me, Troy?"

"Because I know what you want, Brooke." Troy replied without looking at her.

"What is that?" Brooke replied.

"You want me back." he replied.

"Is that so bad?" she said.

"Brooke, I have a girlfriend who I love very much. You have to accept that. And besides you were the one who wanted to break up."

_"Thank you, Troy! This is my chance." _ "Troy, I didn't want to tie you down. I was in New York, and you were in Albuquerque. It wasn't fair to you to have to be loyal to a girlfriend, who was on the opposite coast. But honestly Troy, I'd be lying if I said I was happy there. I was miserable. I missed you so much. That's why I came back. When, I saw your picture in the paper after the nationals, I knew you were mine, alone. Please, Troy, don't break my heart." _"Good acting, Brooke! Sharpay and Ryan Evans couldn't be better than that even if you mixed their talent together!"_

"You were miserable?" Troy asked. He finally looked at Brooke. "You didn't try to move on?"

"I tried, Troy, I really did. I went on a couple of dates, but I found that none of them matched you. You were my idea of perfection." Brooke said.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Troy asked. "Do you think that'll change my mind?"

"I don't know, Troy. I hoped it might. But, I know you've moved on. Gabriella seems really nice. It's just that I'm trying to grasp onto a memory."

"You know, I was miserable when you left. I thought you would have forgotten about me." Troy said.

"How could I, Troy? You were my everything! Please don't break my heart." Brooke said with puppy eyes.

"**_I don't want to hurt her. I love Gabriella, I'm sure of it. But she's saying all these things, and I can't help but admit I still have feelings for her. But then I'll hurt Gabi. Either way someone gets hurt."_** "Look, Brooke," Troy said, "I'd also be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for you, but I can't hurt Gabi. I just can't. I love her too much."

_"Yes! Just a little bit more, keep it steady Brooke. Don't hurry this too much."_ "Look, Troy. I need to be with you to survive. I don't care if I'm known as your girlfriend or not. You don't have to break things off with Gabriella. But, you don't see her every night! You can go out with me the nights you don't go out with her. Please, Troy!" Brooke pleaded.

**_"Well, I guess that works. Gabi will never find out." _** "I guess that'll work," Troy said.

Suddenly, the elevator door opened. The two of them stood up and walked out. "Call me, Troy," Brooke said. Troy nodded.

So, Troy started seeing both Gabriella and Brooke. Gabriella didn't seem to notice. And, both girls seemed happy.

One day, Troy asked Gabriella, "So where do you want to go tonight?"

Gabriella looked sad, "Sorry, Troy. I have a lab report to work on tonight. I'm afraid I have to cancel. Maybe, we can go out tomorrow?"

Troy put on a sad smile. "Ok, no problem." He walked away.

Gabriella looked thoughtful. "He seemed so sad. Maybe I can try to do it quickly when I go home." she thought.

Meanwhile

"Hey Brooke," said Troy as he walked up to Brooke's locker.

"Hey, babe," she replied as she gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Gabi can't go out tonight, so you want to go out?" Troy asked as he leaned onto the locker next to Brooke's.

"Sounds great, where should we go?" Brooke asked.

"Maybe to that new burger place." Troy said just as the bell rang.

"Sounds perfect," Brooke said. She gave another kiss on his lips as she headed off the calculus.

That Afternoon

Gabriella had just finished her lab report. She picked up her cell to call Troy. "Hey, Troy." she said when he answered the phone.

"Hey, hon." he said.

"Hi, well I've finished my report. So, about that date tonight…"

"Sorry, babe. I've already made plans with Chad and the guys. I thought we were going out tomorrow night." he said.

"Ok, we'll go out tomorrow night. Bye sweetie." she said.

"Bye," he said as he hung up.

"Great," Gabriella thought. "All that work for nothing. Well, if Troy's doing stuff with the guys, then that means the girls are free." She picked up her cell and dialed Taylor's number.

"Hey girl," Taylor said as she answered the phone.

"Hey, why don't we girls do something tonight?" Gabriella said.

"Yeah, sure. What should we do?" Taylor asked.

"Why don't we go to that new burger place?" Gabriella suggested.

"Sounds great. I'll call Kelsi and you call Shar." Taylor said.

"Sure thing." she said. She hung up with Taylor, and called Sharpay, who quickly agreed.

That Night

The girls entered the restaurant extremely hungry. The quickly ordered their food. Kelsi had to use the bathroom. On her way there, she saw…Troy with Brooke. Forgetting the reason why she was over there in the first place, she headed back to the table.

"Guys, isn't that Troy?" she asked. The girls turned around just in time to see Troy and Brooke kiss. Gabriella looked at them horrified.

"Excuse me," she said as she got up to walk over to them. "Hi Troy," she said as she reached there table.

Troy looked surprised. "Gabi, I can explain…" he started to say.

"No need. So sorry I interrupted your dinner," she said. She quickly ran out the restaurant door in tears. Troy got up and followed her.

_"Perfect"_ Brooke smiled.

"GABI! Please stop. I didn't mean to…" he started to say.

"How could you Troy? How could you betray me like this? I loved you. I trusted you." She said.

"Gabi, please try to understand." Troy said quietly.

"Forget it Troy. Why should I? You want to date Brooke? Well, that's fine by me! She can be your girlfriend for all I care because we are finished," she screamed.

"Gabi, wait!" Troy said.

The girls had arrived and were looking at Troy in shock. "Girls, I'm sorry, but I need to go home." Gabriella said. They girls nodded, and Gabriella got in her car and drove home.

When she got home, she quickly ran up the stairs and flopped on her bed. She turned on her radio in hopes of a comforting song. The song "A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion was on.

A new day, has come  
A new day, has come.  
I was waiting for so long  
For a miracle to come  
Everyone told me to be strong  
Hold on and don't shed a tear  
Through the darkness and good times  
I knew I'd make it through  
And the world thought I had it all  
But I was waiting for you  
Hush, now  
I see a light in the sky  
Oh, it's almost blinding me  
I can't believe  
I've been touched by an angel with love  
Let the rain come down and wash away my tears  
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears  
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun  
A new day has... come  
Oh...  
Where it was dark now there's light  
Where there was pain now there's joy  
Where there was weakness, I found my strength  
All in the eyes of a boy  
Hush, now  
I see a light in the sky  
Oh, it's almost blinding me  
I can't believe  
I've been touched by an angel with love  
Let the rain come down and wash away my tears  
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears  
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun  
A new day has...  
Let the rain come down and wash away my tears  
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears  
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun  
A new day has... come  
Ohhh  
Hush, now  
I see a light in your eyes  
All in the eyes of the boy  
I can't believe  
I've been touched by an angel with love  
I can't believe  
I've been touched by an angel with love  
Hush, now  
(Ahh..ahh...  
A new day...  
Ahh..Ahh..)  
Hush, now  
(Ahh..Ahh..  
A new day...)

Gabriella put her head on her pillow and cried herself to sleep.

**AN- **I know a lot of people don't listen to Celine Dion anymore, but I loved that song, and I thought it fit in nicely. I'd also like to mention, that the songs I put in this story are there because they fit in. Don't judge me for this, please! Also, please review!


	7. The Epiphany

**AN- **I'm sorry; I realized some thought that the breakup was unrealistic (Thank you for pointing that out p!). It was just I had to move the plot along. It was working with the general plot of the story. I also kind of meant to make Troy look like an ass. I love Troy, so don't worry he won't stay this way (hence the name of the title)! Also this is the chapter for all you who were feeling sorry for Ryan in my earlier chapters! Once again, words in italics are Brooke's thoughts. Italics also show song lyrics.

**Disclaimer- **I don't own any of the HSM characters except for Brooke, Reese, and others that I made up.

**Chapter 6- The Epiphany**

The gang was meeting up at the Evan's house. "Ok, people, something has to be done! We all know Troy and Gabi are destined for each other. So let's knock some sense into them!" Sharpay declared.

"But how?" Ryan asked.

"I know!" Taylor said. She was sitting on Chad's lap. "What I am suggesting maybe a little unorthodox, though…"

"What is it?" Zeke asked. He was in the kitchen baking what he liked to call "energy brownies." They were brownies with chocolate chips baked in and chocolate syrup on top with sprinkles on top. (**AN- I bake them at home. They are AMAZING!)** He added extra sugar to get their brains working.

"Well, even if Troy and Gabriella are on the verge of killing each other, they will still work together to solve a crisis involving their friends. So, I'm thinking that one of us, a couple, I mean break up temporarily. They will definitely get back together to get the couple back together." Taylor said.

"But which couple?" Jason asked. He hugged Kelsi. "Definitely not Kelsi and me."

"Or Taylor and me," Chad said quickly. Chad looked quickly at Sharpay, who was doing her nails.

"Forget it 'fro boy, Zeke and I are not, I repeat not breaking up," Sharpay answered. Zeke nodded in agreement.

"Come on Shar, you have to. Look your relationship with Zeke is deep in a way most relationships aren't. It will hit both Troy and Gabi hard if you break up. Besides, you are not really breaking up. You are just pretending to. You can still hang out and all. You just have to make sure not to do it in front of them." Taylor said.

"NO FRIGGING WAY!" Sharpay screamed. Taylor and Sharpay went on to argue for sometime.

"Uh, guys? Uh guys? GUYS!" Kelsi screamed. Everybody stopped and looked at her. "Your argument is pointless. Look, Shar, you and Zeke do not have to break up." She looked at Sharpay, who smiled.

"Kels! What do you mean they don't have to break up?" Taylor shouted.

"If you would please let me finish, Taylor. I was going to say that they don't have to break up yet. You see we forgot to take into consideration that Troy has a girlfriend already, one that he seems to like a lot." Kelsi said.

"Right, duh." Ryan said. "Now what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," said Chad. "Troy will hate us if we wreck his relationship with Brooke. He's my best friend."

"But Gabi's my best friend, and she's miserable," Taylor said.

Next day at school

"Hey honey," Brooke said to Troy. She kissed him real passionately on the lips. She did that a lot. She wanted everyone to know that Troy Bolton was _her_ man. _"This is so perfect! Troy's forgotten all about that stupid Gabriella. Now he's all mine."_

Troy also noticed that his friends started to avoid him. They weren't too happy the day they found out he had broken up.

Flashback

Troy was playing basketball at his house, when he saw Chad coming. He waved and passed the ball at Chad. Chad caught the ball, and just held it.

"What the hell, man?" Chad asked.

"What do you mean what the hell?" Troy asked.

"Taylor called me last night, and she was really upset. She told me you cheated on Gabi, and that Gabi had broken up with you!" Chad replied.

"Well, you heard right, and I'm happy. It was the best decision I ever made!" Troy said.

"Yeah, cheating on your girlfriend is definitely one of your better decisions!" Chad shouted.

"I don't think I really have to explain…" Troy saw Zeke and Jason walking up the driveway. "Hey guys, up for a game of b-ball?"

"Nah, we came to stop Chad from killing you," Jason answered.

"Good, at least someone supports me." Troy said.

"We're not supporting. We'd love for Chad to kill you, but we don't want to get held accountable," Zeke said.

"What! Why do you guys want to kill me?" Troy exclaimed.

"Because you hurt Gabi. She trusted you! And do you know what position this puts us in, man?" Jason asked.

"What 'position' does it put you in? There is no 'position'! This doesn't concern you." Troy shouted.

"Well, you're one of my best friends, man. But your ex-girlfriend, man, it feels weird saying that, is one of my girlfriend's best friends. I wasn't sure who to support. But thanks for clearing things up for me. I think I'm taking my girlfriend's side on this one," Jason replied. "I'm going. I can't even look at you, man. You guys coming?" Chad and Zeke nodded and followed Jason out.

"Who needs them?" Troy thought.

Back to School

"Hello, Troy! Sweetie-poo!" Brooke said. She waved her hand in front of his face.

Troy blinked his eyes a couple of times. "Sorry, I zoned out," he said.

"I noticed, but that's ok. Cause, that's what makes you so cute, sweetie-poo!" Brooke turned around to see Gabriella walking past them. She gave Troy a passionate kiss on the lips, which he seemed to enjoy. Gabriella saw this and ran away with her hand over her mouth and trying to fight back tears.

Later in Brooke's Chemistry Class  
"Kids, we have a new student with us today. Her name is Reese Adler. Let's try to make Reese feel comfortable here at East High," Mr. Owen said.

"I hope she's not anything like Brooke," Ryan whispered to Zeke.

"What, you mean a girl who's hell-bent on stealing another girl's boyfriend?" Zeke whispered back.

Ryan didn't hear him because in walked a pretty girl with long, wavy black hair and green eyes. She seemed really nervous. Ryan was awestruck. "Ryan, Ryan!" Mr. Owens said.

Ryan finally "woke up." "Huh?"

"Miss Adler will be your lab partner." Mr. Owens said.

"Sure, Mr. Owens," Ryan motioned to the empty seat next to him, and Reese sat down. He held out his hand to Reese. "Ryan Evans," he said, "Nice to meet you."

"Reese Adler, and nice to meet you as well," she seemed a little less nervous.

After the bell rang, Reese and Ryan (**AN-** **I did not do this on purpose to symbolize Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe, who by the way, are getting divorced. I just liked the name Reese. I only realized this after I wrote the line.)** walked to their next class, which was world history, together.

"I think you'll really like it here at East High. One of my best friends, Gabriella, was new here not long ago, and she really likes it here now," Ryan said.

"I hope I'll like it. Is Gabriella your girlfriend?" Reese asked. After she had asked it, she started to blush.

"Oh no way! Gabi's just a pal. In fact, she's trying to get over a really nasty breakup. You'll get to meet her at lunch, along with my friends and Sharpay," Ryan said, who also started to blush.

"Is Sharpay you girlfriend?" Reese asked, still blushing. "Calm down, Reese, stop asking him that question! You don't want to look stupid," she thought.

"Nah, Sharpay's my twin sister. I don't actually have a girlfriend. Probably because most of the girls here think I am a drama geek," Ryan said.

"You are interested in drama?" Reese asked.

"Well, yeah, I have starred in seventeen productions, and I had a supporting role in the winter and springl musicals. Troy Bolton and my friend, Gabi, beat out Sharpay and me for the parts. Girls are not generally interested in guys who are into drama. They think that's gay of something," Ryan said.

"I think it's really cool you do drama. It's not gay at all. I really admire you for doing drama, especially since most guys don't do it. What musicals did the school put on last year?" She was really blushing at this point.

"Thanks Reese," Ryan said. "We put on an original production called "Twinkle Town" as the winter musical. It was written by my friend, Kelsi Nielson. You'll meet her at lunch, too. The spring musical was "Evita," Reese nodded. "This girl is really nice. Don't screw this up, Ryan!" Ryan thought.

When they got to class, they chose seats near each other. "Who's Troy Bolton?" Reese asked. "I am sure I've heard that name from somewhere."

"Well, you probably saw him in the newspaper. He led the East High Wildcats to Nationals for basketball," he said, not meaning to sound bitter.

Reese sensed the bitterness in his voice. "Do you not like him or something?" she asked.

"No, he used to be one of my friends. Well, I guess he still is my friend. It's just that he was Gabi's ex-boyfriend," Ryan answered.

Reese asked, "I don't mean to pry, but what happened?"

"Well, Troy cheated on Gabriella with that girl, Brooke, who's in our chemistry class," Ryan answered.

"That sucks. I could tell she was one to be involved in that kind of stuff. At least now I'm prepared to meet Gabriella. Thanks for the heads up," she said just as the bell rang. "Please Reese, don't screw this up. He's single and hot! Maybe this could work…" Reese thought.

At Lunch

Gabriella, Reese, and Ryan had not come yet. The gang was talking about the messy situation.

"I mean, can you believe it? Troy is practically screwing the girl right in front of Gabriella. I never thought that he was such a jackass," Taylor said.

"I really can't believe he's doing all of this. He's not usually this way. I don't know what to do," said Chad.

"We have to do something quick. Gabi just doesn't want to talk about Troy. She's really trying forget him. I mean she's…" Sharpay said, but she shut up as soon as she saw Gabriella walking towards them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Gabriella said. She was sounding unusually chirpy almost like the old Gabriella.

"Um, nothing I guess," Zeke said.

"Where's Ryan?" Gabriella asked.

"There he is! Oh my god…" said Kelsi. They looked over to see Ryan walking awfully close to an unfamiliar girl with black hair.

"What the hell is going on? How dare Ryan get a girlfriend without telling me, who does he think he is?" Sharpay screeched.

"Shar, do us a favor," Chad said.

"What?" she asked.

"Shut up," Chad said. Sharpay started to pout to Zeke.

"Hi guys," Ryan said.

"Hey Ryan," Taylor said. She looked to Reese. "Who's your 'friend'?"

"Everyone, this is Reese Adler. She's new here. Reese, these are my friends Jason, Kelsi, Zeke, Sharpay, Chad, Taylor, and Gabi,"

"It's really nice to meet you all," Reese said. "Ryan was telling me so much. I was really excited to meet you all, especially you Sharpay. He was telling me all about you," She seemed genuinely pleased to see them.

"I like her," Sharpay whispered to Zeke, who nodded.

"Please sit down," Gabriella said, motioning to the chair next to her.

"Thanks a lot," Reese said.

A Few Days Later with Our Favorite Boyfriend-Stealer

Brooke realized something really quickly with Troy. Troy Bolton was extremely…boring. All he ever wanted to talk about was the previous and upcoming musicals, basketball, how awful his friends are, etc. He never really talked about e movies or anything remotely interesting. _"This sucks. He's so boring!" _ Brooke thought one day while hanging out with Troy. _"If he wasn't so hot and popular, I would have dumped him ages ago! Well, he's also a good kisser which comes in handy during our make out sessions. It's no use dumping him after all that hard work. Well, I had to deal with Troy going out with Gabriella while dating me, so he's just going to have to go through the same. Bryce Hayden is really hot…and way more experienced."_

So, just like Troy had done not long ago, Brooke started dating Troy and Bryce at the same time. Bryce didn't mind being the other guy as long as he got something out of it. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays, Brooke went out with Bryce. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, she went out with Troy. Tuesdays were her days off.

Well, Brooke was not really good at hiding her infidelity. It was not soon before the gang (which Reese was now a part of) saw Brooke French-kissing Bryce when she was not with Troy. Reese was the first to notice Brooke disappearing during free periods with Bryce into one of the relatively unused bathrooms.

"Dude, this is our perfect chance to get rid of Brooke," Chad said one day.

"Yeah, it won't even be our fault," Taylor said.

"All we have to do is get Troy to see Brooke with Bryce," Ryan said.

"Yeah, why don't we try during free period? Isn't he always shooting hoops in the gym? Chad and the guys could try to get him to the bathroom. The girls and I can be waiting in the bathroom," said Reese.

"That's a great idea!" Ryan said. He smiled at Reese. Sharpay made a small groan.

"Ok, but we have to have a more specific plan than that. Look, the guys can tell him that Brooke, no wait Gabi, is crying in the bathroom, and that no one can console her. You guys can tell him that he is their last hope, and then you drag him to the bathroom, where he'll see Brooke!" Sharpay declared.

"Wouldn't it be better if we said it was Brooke?" Jason asked.

"Oh, I get it," said Kelsi. "We need to see if Troy still cares for Gabi. I bet he does, and he'll run to see what the problem is. Good idea Sharpay and Reese."

During Free Period- Operation Get Troy to See the Light in Action

"Ok, Reese, go tell the guys that Brooke is in place," Sharpay said. She and Taylor were posted on one side of the bathroom Ryan was posted on the other side. They were standing a good distance from the bathroom. Kelsi had entered the bathroom a few minutes earlier to make sure that Brooke and Bryce stayed in the bathroom, and since she was the smallest of the group, she had a better chance of not being seen. She was going to sit Indian-style on a toilet seat with the top down. She was a little apprehensive at first because of all the moaning she was going to hear. Reese was going to be the messenger to give Chad, Zeke, and Jason their cue.

"Going," she said as she darted off towards the gym entrance where she was going to meet the guys. It took her a few minutes to get to the gym. She stood behind the allotted bush and gave a thumbs up, which was their assigned signal. The guys saw the sign and headed off towards the gym.

"Hey, man!" Chad called out to Troy.

Troy seemed surprised to see them there. "What are you doing here? I thought you guys were boycotting me," he said.

"We were, but sometimes we have to put out differences aside for the greater good," Zeke said.

"What do you mean the greater good?" Troy asked while shooting a ball.

"Dude, Gabi's been crying the bathroom for a long time. She won't come out. We came to you as a last resort. Will you please go and talk to her?" Jason asked.

"Why me?" Troy asked without looking up.

"Look, as much as she hates you right now, you are the only one who can console her. Please do this for us. Brooke's busy, **(AN-ignore the pun**) so she'll never know. Will you please come?" Chad pleaded.

Troy dropped the ball. "I guess," he said. The four of them headed towards the exit.

Reese was still waiting near the bush. Zeke gave her a nod, and she dashed off to go back to the bathroom. She quickly got to her assigned spot by Ryan (who had secretly pleaded to Sharpay to make that Reese's assigned spot). "Our work is done. The rest is up to Brooke and Troy," she whispered to Ryan, who nodded in agreement.

The guys came soon after to the bathroom. "She's in there in the second stall. The door is unlocked, I think," Zeke said.

Troy walked in without saying a word. He opened the stall only to see…Brooke having sex with Bryce!

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Troy bellowed. Kelsi thought this was a good time as any to escape. She was about to puke. He didn't notice her running out of the bathroom.

"Sweetie-poo, I can explain…"Brooke started to say.

"I dumped Gabi for this? I was so stupid! What about all that shit about you being miserable? You didn't look miserable cheating on me! Well, whatever, I'm sorry I interrupted. Why don't you continue screwing each other," Troy raged.

"You know what Troy? I don't really care about what you think! You are so damn boring! The only reason I wanted you was because I saw this as a challenge. You were so in love with Gabriella that nothing could break you up. I just wanted to challenge myself. What, you thought I loved you? Dream on!" Brooke yelled.

Troy stormed out of the bathroom. He was happy no one (other than the gang) had heard him because this was in an abandoned hallway. The gang was waiting for him outside. Kelsi looked really green. Jason was trying to comfort her. "I can't believe I was stupid. I hurt Gabriella for that slut Brooke. I have to talk to Gabi! Do you think she'll take me back?" he asked them.

"Honestly man, I don't know," Ryan said.

"But it wouldn't hurt to try," Reese added.

"Where is she right now?" Troy asked.

"Where else? The library," answered Taylor.

At the Library

Gabriella was humming Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" while studying her A.P. French notes. She was planning to sing that song for the audition for the fall musical which was now officially "Mamma Mia." She wanted the part of Donna, the mom. This was okay with Sharpay, who wanted the role of Sophie, the daughter. Both parts were main parts.

Troy ran all the way to the library, and accidentally ran inside the library. Mrs. Flagstaff **(AN- Is that her name?)** gave him a long lecture about respecting the sacred temple of learning and literature. Troy quickly found Gabriella in a section of the library that had many comfortable couches and chairs. She was nestled in a blue velvet-covered armchair. She was twirling her finger in her hair again. She looked perfect.

Troy walked over and sat in the armchair next to her. She was so engrossed in her notes and humming that she didn't notice him. "Gabi?" he whispered.

Gabriella turned around to face him. "Troy, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to talk to you, but I can't do it by whispering. Can we go to the secret spot?" he asked.

She closed her notebook. "I guess," she said with uncertainty in her voice.

The walked silently side-by-side to the secret spot and sat down on the bench. "So what do you want to talk about Troy?" she asked.

"Gabi, I, I made a huge mistake. Brooke is nothing but a slut, and I broke up with her. You are the one I love. Please take me back," he pleaded.

"Troy, are you freaking kidding me? Do you actually think I'll take you back after you cheated on me? Do you think that I am that forgiving?" she asked harshly.

"Gabi, I made a mistake. I was being stupid. I was…" Troy said.

"That doesn't justify your actions. You broke my heart, Troy, and I can't just forgive you like that. I've lost all my respect for you. Do not think for one minute, Troy Bolton, that I am one of those girls who are obsessed with what people think of me, that I will take back a guy who cheated on me, even if he's the most popular boy in school. I've moved on, Troy. Deal with it," she said. She got up and walked away as quickly as possible.

As she walked down the hall, "A Thousand Miles" was no longer in her head. She started humming a different tune.

_Ooh no_

_Come with me, stay the night_

_You say the words but boy it don't feel right_

_What do you expect me to say (You know it's just too little too late)_

_You take my hand, and you say you've changed_

_But boy you know you're beggin don't fool me_

_Because to you it's just a game_

_So let me on down_

_Cause time has made me strong_

_I'm starting to move on_

_I'm gonna say this now_

_Your chance has come and gone_

_And you know_

_It's just too little too late_

_A little too wrong_

_And I can't wait_

_Boy you know all the right things to say (You know it's just too little too late)_

_You say you dream of my face_

_But you don't like me_

_You just like the chase_

_To be real, it doesn't matter anyway (You know it's just too little too late)_

_I was young and in love_

_I gave you everything but it wasn't enough_

_And now you wanna communicate_

_Go find someone else_

_In lettin you go, I'm lovin myself_

_You gotta problem_

_But don't come askin me for help_

_Cause ya know_

_It's just too little too late_

_A little too wrong_

_And I can't wait_

_Boy you know all the right things to say (You know it's just too little too late)_

_You say you dream of my face_

_But you don't like me_

_You just like the chase_

_To be real, it doesn't matter anyway (You know it's just too little too late)_

_I can love with all of my heart baby_

_I know I have so much to give (I have so much to give)_

_With a player like you, I don't have a prayer_

_That's the way to live, yeah oh_

_It's just too little, too late_

_Yeah_

_It's just too little too late_

_A little too wrong_

_And I can't wait_

_Boy you know all the right things to say (You know it's just too little too late)_

_You say you dream of my face_

_But you don't like me_

_You just like the chase_

_To be real, it doesn't matter anyway (You know it's just too little too late)_

Meanwhile

Troy sat there. He cried, and this was the first time he remembered doing so.   
"How could I be so stupid?" Troy thought over and over. A different song was running in his head.

_Step one you say we need to talk  
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk  
He smiles politely back at you  
You stare politely right on through  
Some sort of window to your right  
As he goes left and you stay right  
Between the lines of fear and blame  
And you begin to wonder why you came_

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best  
Cause after all you do know best  
Try to slip past his defense  
Without granting innocence  
Lay down a list of what is wrong  
The things you've told him all along  
And pray to God he hears you  
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness   
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice  
You lower yours and grant him one last choice  
Drive until you lose the road   
Or break with the ones you've followed  
He will do one of two things  
He will admit to everything  
Or he'll say he's just not the same  
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness   
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend   
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life  
How to save a life  
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life   
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life  
How to save a life

Troy stopped crying for a minute. "That's it!" he thought. "Singing brought us together. And that's what's going to bring us back together!" He got up, and quickly walked down the stairs in search of his friends.

**AN- **How was that chapter? I liked giving Ryan a love interest. Once again, the Reese and Ryan thing was completely coincidental. Should they get together? So, I hoped you liked the ending to this chapter, all you Troyella fans. Remember, I am a big Troyella fan, so you had nothing to be scared about! Please Review. By the way for those of you who didn't know, the song Gabriella was singing was Jojo's "Too Little Too Late," and the song Troy was singing was The Fray's "How to Save a Life."


	8. Getting Gabriella

**AN-** Originally my friend, Mckenzie, couldn't believe that I liked HSM, so I made her watch it, and now she is totally obsessed about it! Yeah me! Also a special note to loveyoumeanitbye, I loved Reese and Ryan, too! They were my favorite celeb couple. Now, I putting hope on Ben Affleck and Jen Garner.

**Disclaimer- **I do not own any of the HSM characters except for Brooke, Reese, etc.

**Chapter 7- Getting Gabriella**

Gabriella was still ignoring Troy, and now he was getting desperate. He had thought just singing to her would solve the problem, but she didn't stick around long enough to hear him finish the first line.

The gang was back at the Evan's house, only this time Troy was there as well. "What are we going to do?" Troy asked. "I tried singing to her, but she didn't want to hear. This sucks,"

"Well you kind of deserve it," Ryan said. Everyone threw him a harsh look. "Well, he does," Ryan answered.

"Don't worry about it, man," Troy said.

"Well, ok so now that Brooke…" Taylor started.

"The slut," Troy interrupted.

"Fine, now that Brooke, the slut, is out of the way, we can use the Sharpay-Zeke breakup plan," Taylor finished.

"WHAT???!!!" Zeke and Sharpay said in unison.

"That's not fair, why should they have to break up?" Reese asked.

"Because none of the rest of them wants to," Ryan replied. "It was a simple game of "Not It."

"Why don't you guys just all break up? Then no one's arguing," Reese suggested.

"That's a great…" Ryan started.

"No way," Jason completed.

"It's way too unrealistic," Kelsi answered.

"Actually, you have a good suggestion," Troy said.

"No she doesn't," Chad said.

Zeke and Sharpay were whispering. Sharpay cleared her throat. "Zeke and I have agreed to breakup," she said. The group cheered. "I didn't finish. We will break up only if the rest of you do so,"

"Forget it, girl," Taylor said.

"You know what?" Kelsi suddenly said. "We are not getting anywhere just arguing over who's going to break up! Jason and I will break up,"

"What!!!!!!!" Jason said, just as Sharpay said, "Well that's settled."

"I'm not finished. Zeke and you, along with Chad and Taylor, and Reese and Ryan will all break up,"

"Uh…Reese and I aren't going out," Ryan said quietly.

"Oh, sorry, Ryan," Kelsi said.

"I guess that's fine. We can just say that the guys are too obsessed with their basketball or something," Taylor said.

"Great!" Troy said.

"You'd better thank us. We're doing you a big favor, in spite of you being a major jerk earlier," Zeke said.

"Thanks guys," Troy said.

"So, I guess we should break up, Zeke," Sharpay said tearfully. Taylor and Kelsi were trying to hold back tears.

"It's not for real, Shar. It's just for the time being. I love you," Zeke said, sniffling in a "manly" way.

Sharpay was about to burst out into tears, so she got up, and ran to her room. Taylor and Kelsi gave their boyfriends tearful goodbyes and headed home. The guys left a few minutes later. Reese was still there.

"Well, that's good. Hopefully, this will work," Reese said.

"Look, I'm sorry about what Kelsi said…"Ryan started out. "Dude, just tell her how you feel! It won't hurt to try!" Ryan thought.

"Well, I better go," Reese said. She headed to the door.

"Here goes nothing," Ryan thought. "Wait, Reese!" he called out. She turned around. Ryan took a long breath. "Wouldyouliketogooutwithme?" Ryan asked quickly.

She gave a small smile. "I didn't catch that," she answered.

Ryan took another deep breath. "It's now or never," he thought. He waited a few moments. "Reese, would you like to go out with me?" Ryan asked. He closed his eyes because he didn't want to see her reaction.

Nothing happened for a few moments. He slowly opened his eyes, and he was surprised to see her smiling. "Ryan, I would love to go out with you! I would have asked you earlier, but I was just too shy." She put her hands on his face, and she pulled him towards her for a passionate kiss. When they were done, she looked so embarrassed that she ran out the front door. Ryan was pleasantly surprised. He let out a scream of joy. **(AN-this scene was kind of like what happened after that song "I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen," in The Sound of Music except for the other way around.)**

Later that Evening

"Hello?" Gabriella picked up the phone.

"Gabriiiielllaa! It's so awful! Zeke broke up with me. What am I going to dooooo?" Sharpay cried.

"Whoa, that's weird. Taylor and Kelsi are over here, too. They said Chad and Jason broke up with them, too. Want to come here for a cry fest?"

"Ok, be there in a few minutes," Sharpay said tearfully. She put on a smile and pressed her call waiting button. "Sweetie, it's working! I'm going to Gabi's for a good cry. Wish me luck. Operation Get-Troy-and-Gabi-Back-Together is on stage one." Sharpay said.

"Good luck, hon. I'm missing you already," Zeke answered

At Gabriella's House

"Sharpay, you look awful!" Gabriella said when she answered the door.

Sharpay had made sure to smear her makeup to make it look like she had been crying for quite some time. "Gabi," she sobbed, "he told me that he should be focusing on basketball now that it's his senior year. He wants to get into a college. He says I was a distracccction!!!!!!"

Gabriella gave her a hug. "Well, we can all be miserable together. Come on in. We are drowning ourselves in my mom's freshly baked sugar cookies and soda. Now that you've come, let's turn on some mushy romance flicks," Gabriella said soothingly.

Sharpay hiccupped. "I guess that sounds good." She walked into Gabriella's house. The house seemed empty.

"Mom thought we should get some time for ourselves since this is a breakup party. We partied weeks ago when Troy and I broke up," Gabriella explained.

"You threw yourself a breakup party?" Sharpay asked.

"Yeah, it helps the healing process. Troy was a particularly nasty breakup," Gabriella said as she sat down, eating a cookie.

"Where are Taylor and Kelsi?" Sharpay asked.

"Well, they've needed to go to the bathroom a lot. I guess they need some crying alone time," Gabriella said.

Sharpay smirked. She knew the girls were going to the bathroom to smear more makeup on their faces. A moment later, Taylor and Kelsi returned.

"So, Shar, Gabi was telling us that breakup parties really help get over a guy," Kelsi said.

"Yeah, so I've heard," Sharpay replied. The three girls turned to look at Gabriella, who was picking out all the romantic films in her DVD case. Sharpay and Kelsi nodded at Taylor.

"Gabi, have you really gotten over Troy?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella looked up. "Well, I guess I could tell you, since you guys are all experiencing breakups. Actually, no, I haven't." she said. She didn't notice Sharpay and Kelsi giving each other silent high-fives.

"Really, but Troy was saying you told him off," Sharpay said.

"Come on, I'd like to believe I am that strong, but I'm not. Troy was my first real love. Well, actually I am still in love with him. I hate myself for not hating him, but I just can't do it. I know that he cheated on me, but I can't but look back at all the fun times we had," she said slowly.

"Well, then why don't you forgive him? He has realized his mistake," Kelsi said.

"Girls, as much as I love him, Troy cheated on me. He can't think that just because he claims he loves me, I'll take him back. He can't take me for granted," Gabriella said.

Taylor secretly smiled at the girls. They had gotten the information they needed. "Ok," she said, "enough of this emotional talk. We can't keep Rose and Jack waiting much longer,"

That Night

The phone rang. This was the call that Chad had been waiting for all evening. "Hey sweetie," Taylor's voice sang on the other end.

"Hey, hon. We've haven't broken up for long, and I'm already missing you. Why don't we just get back together?" he answered miserably.

"Baby, you know we can't do that. Anyways, we got the information that we need. Gabriella is still way in love with Troy. She's just being complicated. Troy better start making his move now," she answered.

"Ok, sweetie thanks. I call him soon. Missing you already," Chad said.

"I love you," Taylor replied. She hung up. Chad quickly called Troy.

"Hey man! How did stage one work out?" Troy asked.

"It worked out great man! Guess what, Gabi still loves you man! Taylor says you better make your move soon," Chad said.

"I know just how, but I am going to need the guys your help. If this works out, it will also serve the purpose of getting you and Taylor back together, plus Shar and Zeke, and Kels and Jason.

"Cool, what are we going to do?" Chad said.

"Sing, and I know the perfect song…" Troy said.

Meanwhile at the Evan's House

"WHAT? Here I was, miserable because I had to pretend to breakup with my dream guy, and YOU GOT YOURSELF A GIRLFRIEND?" Sharpay screamed.

"Sorry, Shar, it was a matter of life or death, now or never. Look, I talked to her earlier, and we won't officially go out until this whole crisis is sorted out. We knew it wasn't fair," Ryan answered.

Sharpay thought for a moment. "Well, I guess that's all right. I just can't believe you finally asked her out! The gang and I were waiting since forever," she said.

Ryan blushed. "Was it really that obvious?"

"Yeah, bro, it was," she replied. "But I am happy you finally did. So, now there will be no more complaining about you not having a girlfriend,"

The Next Day at School at the End of the Day

"So everyone is in place?" asked Reese. The guys had already talked to Mrs. Darbus about using the auditorium. They had convinced her that they needed to use it to rehearse for the upcoming auditions for "Mamma Mia!"

"Yup, I think so," said Kelsi.

"Remember, we need to all act surprised," Sharpay said.

"So, all we need now is…" Reese said.

"Gabriella," Kelsi completed.

"Well, Taylor's getting her from the library, so they should be here soon.

At the Auditorium

"Gabi! It's awful!" Taylor whispered.

"What's awful?" Gabriella asked. She was listening to her iPod and was studying her A.P. Chemistry noted.

"Ryan was planning on practicing for the auditions. But for some reason, he just can't sing! He's really upset about something. All of us have tried talking to him, but he said that only you knew how to calm him down. Please come with us!" she said.

"Right now?" Gabriella asked. Taylor nodded. She sighed, shut off her iPod, and closed her notebook. "Lead on."

Taylor and Gabriella walked quickly down the halls. Reese saw them coming down the hall, and she signaled to the guys. Taylor led her in the auditorium. When she saw Troy standing there, she was furious. "You tricked me!" she yelled. She started to walk to the exit, but Taylor, Reese, and Kelsi caught her before she got out. They walked her down the aisle, and place her in a first row seat. Then, Reese and Sharpay sat on one side of her, and Taylor and Kelsi sat on the other side of her.

Troy cued for the music to start. **(AN- I'll put the person's name in bold who is singing the particular line.)**

**Troy- **Hmm, yeah, yeah  
Baby, please try to forgive me  
Stay here don't put out the glow  
Hold me now don't bother if every minute it makes me weaker  
You can save me from the man that I've become, oh yeah

While Troy was singing, Gabriella jumped around her friends and started walking towards the exit, but stopped when…

**Ryan, Chad, Zeke, and Jason- **

Lookin back on the things Ive done  
I was tryin to be someone  
I played my part, kept you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart

**Chad- **

Send in this beautiful loneliness that's tragical  
So help me I can't win this war, oh no  
Touch me now don't bother if every second it makes me weaker  
You can save me from the man I've become

**Chad, Zeke, and Jason- **

Lookin back on the things Ive done  
I was tryin to be someone  
I played my part, kept you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart

**Ryan- **

I'm here with my confession  
Got nothing to hide no more  
I don't know where to start  
But to show you the shape of my heart

**All- **

I'm looking back on things I've done  
I never wanna play the same old part  
Ill keep you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart  
Looking back on the things I've done  
I was trying to be someone  
I played my part, kept you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart  
Looking back on the things I've done  
I was trying to be someone  
I played my part, kept you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart  
Show you the shape of my heart

Troy looked at Gabriella when he was finished. She looked furious. She quickly got up and headed towards the exit. He ran off the stage and followed her. He finally caught her. "Gabi, what's wrong?" he asked, while panting. "Damn, the girl can move fast," he thought.

"What you think singing that sob song will get us back together. I see it now. Taylor and Chad, and all the rest of them, they didn't really break up did they? They were trying to help you? You are so selfish, Troy. You think that just because you broke up with Brooke, I'd be waiting in the wings for you. All you care about is you and you happiness!" she screamed.

"Tell me, Gabi. Weren't you happy when we were together?" Troy asked.

"Yes, and that was before you cheated on me, and I broke up with you! I am perfectly happy without you, Troy please get that straight!" she said before storming off. This time around, Troy did not follow her.

As soon as she had left, the gang came up to Troy. "I am so screwed, guys. She won't even talk to me. There's no hope for us anymore. She won't come back to me," he said sadly.

"Don't be so sure, Troy. I have one last plan, and this is bound to work," Sharpay said.

**AN- **Dun, Dun, Dun! What is Sharpay going to do????? Stay tuned! In the meantime, please leave a review, even if it's really short. I really like knowing if you enjoyed my story or not.


	9. Many Thanks to Evita, Salsa, and Sharpay

**AN-** Sorry I didn't upload in a while. I have had a busy week at school. I hope to finish the story soon (don't worry it still has a one or two chapters left.) and then I plan to start some new stories. I have a HSM story in mind and a Sailor Moon one, too.

**Disclaimer- **I do not own any of the HSM characters except for Brooke, Reese, etc. I have, however, decided that I own Zac Efron and Ryne Sanborn (j/k. A girl can wish)

**Chapter 8- Many Thanks to Evita, Salsa, and …Sharpay?**

"Gabi!" yelled Sharpay. Gabriella had just walked out of A.P. French and was heading to her Trigonometry class. Sharpay was anxiously waiting in the hallway for her. Gabriella wasn't too mad with the gang (minus Troy) about the whole "Shape of My Heart" thing. She forgave them quickly.

"Hey Shar! What's up?" Gabriella said stopping her walk.

"Well, you're one of the first to receive it," Sharpay said handing a black envelope to Gabriella. Gabriella opened it carefully, and she took out a black and silver invitation.

"You're invited to Sharpay and Ryan Evan's Annual Halloween Blowout," she read. "What annual blowout is this, Sharpay?"

"Well, we are quite famous for it. It's a huge party with lots of dancing and singing plus games and stuff. Everyone wants an invitation, whether they like us or not. If there's one thing Ryan and I do better than drama, it's throwing parties. Each year our party has a theme. Last year it was celebrities," she answered.

"What's this year's theme?" Gabriella asked.

"It's a masquerade ball. It's kind of like prom, except you have to wear those masks. Anyways, please tell me you'll come!!" Sharpay said.

"I guess. Does the whole school come?" Gabriella asked.

"Don't worry, Brooke and her peeps are most certainly not getting invitations," Sharpay assured her.

"Brooke and her peeps are not getting what?" a voice behind them said. Brooke glided towards them and ripped the invitation out of Gabriella's hand. "You're invited to Sharpay and Ryan Evan's Annual Halloween Blowout," she read. "Where's my invite, Sharpay?" Brooke asked.

"I'm sorry, my party's not open to sluts/boyfriend stealers," she smirked. Sharpay tossed her hair. "Come on, Gabi, I'll walk you to class," She linked arms with Gabriella, and the two of them walked towards Gabriella's trigonometry class.

Later at Lunch

The girls were sitting by themselves at lunch, along with Ryan. They guys were practicing for a big game, so they were skipping lunch.

"So, girls," Sharpay asked, "my party's next weekend. Do you want to go shopping this weekend?"

"Yeah, sure," Reese said. She was munching on a French fry that Ryan had given her.

"But where can we get some pretty dresses?" Kelsi asked.

"We'll just go to Claire Hayden's. **(AN- That's just a boutique I made up) **They have some great stuff there," Sharpay answered.

"Yeah, if you can afford it," Kelsi said.

"Don't worry about it. Just do what Sharpay does. Claire is our aunt. She just loans the dress to Sharpay. I'm sure she'll let you do that," Ryan said.

"Really?" Taylor asked. "Wow, a dress from Claire Hayden. It's a dream come true!"

"So, Saturday, then?" Gabriella asked.

"Saturday it is," Sharpay said.

Saturday

The girls, minus Sharpay, entered Claire Hayden's in complete awe. Reese and Taylor sighed over the elegant wedding dresses. Gabriella and Kelsi were looking at many of the fancy short cocktail dresses.

"Sharpay, darling! I was expecting you. Are these the girls you've been telling me about?" Claire Hayden asked.

The girls were in awe of the pretty brunette in front of them. She was thirty-five, according to Sharpay, but she didn't look a day over twenty-one.

Sharpay walked over to her and gave her a hug. "Yes, Aunt Claire, these are my friends, Gabi, Taylor, Kelsi, and Reese."

Claire looked at a nervous-looking Reese carefully. "Is this the famous Reese Adler I've been hearing about?" Reese nodded. "I can see my nephew has excellent taste."

Reese relaxed a bit. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Hayden," Reese said.

"Please! None of this Miss Hayden business. Any friend of Sharpay or Ryan can call me Claire! Now, I believe, Shar, you are shopping for the Halloween masque?" Claire said.

"Yeah, since it's a formal, I thought it would be fun to shop here with my friends," Sharpay said.

"Definitely! Girls," she said to Taylor and Reese, who had gone back to looking at wedding dresses, and Gabriella and Kelsi, who were looking at short cocktail dresses, "come! You will not find what you need there! You need long, elegant dresses. Come!" Claire yelled. The girls followed her into a special room. The girls gasped. There were dresses in there you would expect to only see on a red carpet. "Now choose anything. However, if you'd like my help, don't hesitate to ask, but I tend to be a little blunt. I apologize in advance."

"A little blunt?" Sharpay smirked. "Just last month, I was checking out this cute purple cocktail dress, and you told me my thighs looked fat in the dress,"

"Well, they did, darling. I didn't want you to look bad," Claire said. Sharpay sighed and went to join her friends, who were looking for dresses.

"How's this, Claire?" Gabriella called out. She was holding up a bright yellow dress with silver beading

"With your beautiful skin color, Gabriella, I think it will look to gaudy on you. Try to pick something a bit simpler," Claire said. Gabriella nodded, put the dress back, and kept on rummaging.

After what seemed like hours of searching and Claire's "constructive criticism," the girls found the dresses that were perfect for them. Sharpay picked a pale pink strapless ballroom gown that went all the way to her feet. Gabriella picked a black strapless ballroom gown with a crunched skirt. Kelsi picked a champagne colored chiffon halter dress. Taylor picked a simple electric blue halter tie up dress that went to her feet. Reese picked a wine red halter top dress that went to the top of her ankles. They thanked Claire and walked out of the store. "All we have to wait for is Saturday. I am sure it will come fast enough," Reese said.

Next Saturday

Gabriella rang the doorbell. She could hear through the door Sharpay and Ryan screaming, "YOU GET THE DOOR!" "NO, YOU get the door!" Ryan finally opened the door. He gawked at her for a minute. "You okay, Ryan?" she asked.

"Wow, Gabi, you look great! **(AN- this is not meant to be romantic in anyway. He's just saying it as a friend)** That's a really nice dress. Please come in," he motioned.

She walked in. She examined the party. Lots of people were dancing and singing. It looked really fun. "Wow, this is cool," she said.

"Sorry, Gabi, I hate to leave you like this, but Reese is waiting for me. She looks awesome! Uh, Jason and Kelsi are over there," he pointed towards the dance floor. "Zeke and Sharpay are in the kitchen," He ran off to find this girlfriend. Gabriella smiled. She was glad Ryan found someone who made him happy. He really deserved it.

"May I have this dance?" a voice asked just as a new song started. Gabriella turned around only to see Troy.

Meanwhile at Taylor's House

Chad checked his watchagain. They were already twenty minutes late. Sharpay was going to freak. He had come thirty minutes ago all ready in his tux. He had even tied up his hair **(AN- Just like in Corbin Bleu's song "Push It to the Limit")** Taylor was unable to speed up the getting ready process. "TAYLOR! We are already twenty minutes late! Hurry up!" he screamed.

"Chad Danforth, do not rush me! I am almost done!" she screamed back.

"That's what you said thirty minutes ago," he thought.

"I'm done. I'm coming down," she said from the top of the stairs.

Chad walked to the bottom of the stairs. He wanted to make sure she didn't go back up suddenly. He saw a bit of electric blue silk. He looked up and gasped. "You look beautiful," he whispered.

Back at the Party

"I guess," Gabriella replied. The gang looked at them.

"It's time," Sharpay whispered. She ran over to the stereo system, and she put on some salsa music.

"Cool, I guess we're going to have use our salsa skills that we learned from "Evita," **(AN- I don't know if there is any salsa in "Evita." We're going to pretend there is)** He led her to the dance floor where they started to dance. "This is my chance," Troy thought. "Look, Gabi, we are both miserable. Please forgive me," he said.

While he dipped her down, she said, "Why should I?"

"Because we love each other Gabi. Look, I made a stupid mistake. We all do at some point in time. I realize that my one mistake hurt you a lot. But, Gabi, friends will forgive friends. Please, please forgive," he said.

Gabriella stopped dancing. "Troy," she said sadly. "It's too late for us." She started heading for the balcony door. Troy followed her.

"Gabi! Wait!" he yelled.

Gabriella turned around. "Why should I?" she snapped.

He leaned down and kissed her. **(AN- For those of you who have seen the "Friends" finale, imagine it like that seen where Rachel storms into Ross's apartment to tell him off. She's about to leave and Ross kisses her.) **She didn't understand why she didn't stop the kiss. It felt so…right to her.

Finally, she broke the kiss. "This doesn't change anything," she said as she walked out towards the balcony. Once again, Troy followed her.

"I'm not going to let her get away this time," he thought. "Gabi, you know as well as I do, that kiss meant something. Look, you are my everything. I am incomplete without you. You complete me. You are my better half. You make me Troy Bolton. Before you, I was simply Troy the Basketball Guy. You taught me how to put Troy the Basketball Guy into Troy Bolton. I want to be Troy Bolton, and I can't be him without you. Please, Gabi, give me another chance," he said.

She wasn't facing him earlier, but she turned around now. She walked towards him, and put her hands on the sides of his face. She pulled him closer. "Promise me, Troy. Promise me, that you will never, ever abandon me again. Promise me that you will never ever think of another woman, they way you think of me. Promise me, you will never…" She didn't get to finish because Troy had already started to kiss her.

The two of them didn't realize that the rest of the gang was looking through the window. "Oh, Ryan. It's so romantic! Sharpay, your idea worked!" Reese said.

Sharpay was standing in front of Zeke. He had his arms wrapped around her waist. She turned to look at Reese. "There is nothing a little salsa can't do. Speaking of salsa, I'm thinking I need to do some of it myself. I haven't gotten to dance at all because I've been supervising the party. What do you say, Zeke?"

"I'd be honored if you'd indulge me with a dance, Miss Evans," he said. He held out his arm to her.

"Wait guys. After all this torment from those two, I want to hear it from them that they're back together. A kiss doesn't really prove anything," Chad said.

"I agree with Chad," Taylor said. The gang walked out into the balcony where Gabriella and Troy were still kissing.

"So, guys," Jason started. "Anything, you'd like to tell us?"

"Well," Gabriella started. "Troy and I have worked out our differences,"

"Like that really explains a lot," Ryan said.

"What Gabi means to say is that we're back together." Troy said.

Kelsi sighed. "Finally. Now we can start thinking about a real drama, like the musical. Come one, Jason, let's dance." She dragged Jason to the dance floor.

"That's great, you guys, that you are back together. I'm sure you'll be really happy," Reese said.

"We never really thanked you for all your help, Reese," Troy said.

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad I could help," she said. "Now, Ryan, let's go dance!" She followed Kelsi's example and dragged her boyfriend to the dance floor.

"Well, that's cool," Chad said.

Taylor elbowed him. "Couldn't you be a little more sensitive or emotional? Our friends, who were destined for each other, are back together!"

"Ok, whatever. I'm really glad you're back together," he said. He turned to his girlfriend. "Happy?"

She smiled, "Very. Now let's go, 'fro boy. The dance floor is awaiting us. Reese, Ryan, wait up for us!" She dragged her boyfriend to the dance floor. **(AN- I know that's getting a bit old. However, I can really imagine Taylor literally dragging Chad to the dance floor.)**

Troy and Gabriella turned to Sharpay and Zeke. "I'm really glad you guys are back together," Zeke said.

"I'd like to thank your help for helping me get Gabriella, back. Especially you, Shar." Troy said.

"Don't mention it. When my friends are in distress, it's Sharpay to the rescue! Now if you'll excuse me, Zeke owes me a dance. Mr. Baylor?" she said. Zeke and she walked in with linked arms.

"Want to go back and dance?" Troy asked Gabriella. Just as a familiar song started to play.

"Actually, I'd rather dance out here, alone," Gabriella said looking up at the starry sky.

"I'd be honored if you'd dance with me, Miss Montez," Troy said holding out his arm.

"I'd be honored to Mr. Bolton," she said. She laughed as they started to dance.

_The dawn is breaking  
A light shining through  
You're barely waking  
And I'm tangled up in you  
Yeah  
do do do do x 4_

I'm open, you're closed  
Where I follow, you'll go  
I worry I won't see your face  
Light up again

Even the best fall down sometime  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills my mind  
I somehow find  
You and I collide  
do do do do x 4

I'm quiet, you know  
You make a first impression  
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometime  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide

Don't stop here  
I lost my place  
I'm close behind  
do do do do x 8

Even the best fall down sometime  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills your mind  
You finally find  
You and I collide  
do do do do x2

Finally find  
You and I collide  
do do do do x 2

You finally find  
You and I collide  
do do do do x 8

They didn't go in afterwards either. They continued to dance on the balcony, lost in each other's eyes, for the rest of the party.

**AN- **It's happened! Troyella all the way! The song was "Collide" by Howie Day. There is a really cute Troyella video on YouTube with this song by musicalfreak15. You might want to check it out. I hope you enjoyed this incredibly fluffy chapter, even though it may have been a little unrealistic. I was just in a fluffy mood today. One last thing, I forgot to mention that the song in the last chapter was "Shape of My Heart" by the Backstreet Boys. Please review!


	10. I'll Love You Forever

**AN-** I forgot to mention that you can check out the dresses the girls wore in the previous chapter on my profile. Also, by accident I gave Claire and Bryce the same last name. They are not related. Also this is for Sunkissed220, I know you weren't accusing me of copying, but I'll just like to say that all my ideas came from me. I haven't read too many HSM stories about Troy breaking up with Gabriella, and I know that there are a lot of them. I had some more ideas for this story, but I didn't put them in this story because I didn't want to look like I was copying anyone.

**Disclaimer- **I do not own any of the characters form HSM except for the ones I made up.

**Chapter 9- I'll Love You…Forever**

The musical was a huge success. The entire school came to see it to show their support to Troy and Gabriella. Christmas break started soon after the musical ended. Troy was busy planning his annual Christmas bash. His friends were helping him organize it. Troy and Gabriella had mutually agreed to invite Brooke to rub it in her face that Troy and Gabriella were still happy.

The party was going to be the week before Christmas. Sharpay and Ryan were in charge of the entertainment, Zeke was in charge of food, and Chad and Jason were going to help him. Reese and Gabriella were in charge of invitations. Taylor and Kelsi were in charge of decorations, and Troy was in charge of everything else.

The Day before the Party

"Hey Aunt Claire! We're baaacckkk!" sang Sharpay.

"Over here, girls!" She called out. The girls gasped when they found her. She was making the most beautiful wedding dress ever.

"Wow," said Taylor. "That's gorgeous."

Claire laughed. "Thanks, I appreciate it." She stood up. "So, Sharpay said you wanted some dresses for a Christmas party that's not too formal, but you wanted something elegant."

"Yes, Claire. That's exactly what we wanted," said Reese.

"For occasions such as these, I think short dresses work perfectly. Follow me," she said. They followed her.

This time around, however, it did not take long for the girls to pick their dresses. Gabriella found hers first. It was a beautiful, short, turquoise chiffon dress. Taylor found hers next, and it was a pale green halter top dress. Sharpay chose a black dress that was a halter top. Reese chose a brown sleeveless chiffon dress. Kelsi picked a champagne (once again) colored sparkle dress.

The Day of the Party

The gang arrived early at Troy's house. They had come wearing sweatshirts and jeans. They were going to change home to change right before the party. It took all day to set up for the party. Finally at 7:00, an hour before the party was supposed to start, the gang left to get changed.

Forty-five Minutes Later at Kelsi's House

Jason started walking up Kelsi's house whistling. He hoped she was ready. He wanted to get to Troy's house a few minutes before the party began, so he could help Troy with any last minute things. He rang the doorbell, and Kelsi's stepfather answered the door.

"Hello, Jason." he said," she's just about ready. She's just getting her shoes on."

Jason smiled. Kelsi was not like most girls. When someone said she's just getting her shoes on, it literally meant that she was completely ready, and she was just getting her shoes on.

"Bye, Mom, I'm leaving," he heard Kelsi say from the top of the stairs. He heard delicate steps descending sown the stairs. He got up to meet her at the bottom of the stairs. Normally, she ran down the stairs at full speed, so he didn't have to bother getting up. He looked up to see his girlfriend, and he gasped. She looked…different. She was wearing contacts, (something she detested doing) she had curled her hair, and she was wearing it down. "Jason, are you done staring? Didn't you say you wanted to get to Troy's house a little early?" she asked.

"I guess," he said. **(AN- I had put a fluffy Chaylor moment in the last chapter, so it was only fair to put a Jelsi one in this chapter.)**

Back at Troy's

The bell rang. "My first guest," Troy said. He ran to answer the door. It was Gabriella. She looked gorgeous, and she had a smile on her face to complete this look of perfection.

'Merry Christmas," she said as she handed him a beautifully wrapped box.

"Thanks," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Come one in,"

He was about to close the door when he heard a "Wait for us!" He turned around to see Chad and Taylor coming up the driveway followed by Zeke, Sharpay, Ryan, and Reese.

"Great, you guys are here. Now, we're only missing Jason and Kelsi," Troy said.

"No, you are not. We are right here," Jason said from behind him. They all walked in and did some last minute stuff. It did not take long before the house was flooded with people. Troy and Gabriella didn't see each other much during the party because they were too busy playing the gracious hosts.

Zeke walked up to Troy at one point. "When I marry Gabi," Troy said, "we are not hosting parties ever. I can't stand being away from her for very long especially when she's looking so beautiful. Any nut case can go over there and flirt with her

"When you marry Gabi? Isn't it a little too early to think about that, like by ten years?" Zeke said as he smirked.

"Trust me, man, I'm going to marry her someday," Troy just as Sharpay walked up to him.

"Come on, baby," she said. "Let's dance." Zeke quickly followed her to the dance floor.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. "May I have this dance? I really love this song." Brooke asked sweetly. She was in a revealing cadet blue dress that had a big slit.

"Where is Bryce? I am sure I invited him. Why don't you dance with him?" Troy asked.

"Bryce?" she asked, puzzled. "Oh, him. Well, we broke up a long time ago. He was just an ass. Anyways about that dance?"

"I'd love to dance." he answered. **(AN- don't get confused, he hates her. This is simply the rubbing in part)** He led her to the dance floor.

Meanwhile with Gabriella

Gabriella was making rounds talking to people. They had invited pretty much the entire school. She knew that some people were too shy to talk to others. She wanted everyone to feel as comfortable as possible.

Reese and Ryan came hurriedly up to her. "Gabi! Troy is dancing with Brooke!" Reese said. Gabriella didn't seem too hassled.

Ryan whispered to Reese, "She must be in a great deal of shock." He turned to Gabriella. "Gabriella, Troy is dancing with Brooke!"

Gabriella looked up. She smiled. "I heard Reese the first time."

Reese looked puzzled. "Aren't you concerned?" she asked.

"Not really," Gabriella said nonchalantly

"Why not?" Ryan asked.

Gabriella turned pink a bit. "Well, Troy invited her because we wanted…" she started to say.

Ryan smiled. "Say no more, we get the picture," Reese and he left to go back and dance.

Back to Troy

"So, Troy, I've missed you. How have you been?" she asked while they danced.

"Well, Gabriella is really happy, so I'm really happy," he answered.

"Yeah, I noticed the two of you got back together. She must have been really desperate to have a boyfriend," she said.

Troy stopped dancing. "What did you just say?" he asked roughly.

Brooke turned red. "Nothing," she replied.

Troy said, "Really? Because I heard it as you saying that my girlfriend was desperate. She's not desperate, Brooke, she's a real woman. If anyone's desperate, it's you. Just look at yourself. You are throwing yourself at me after cheating on me. That's just not desperate, that's pathetic. Just get over yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I see Taylor McKessie over there, and I have to tell her something." He walked off towards Taylor, smiling.

"Troy," Taylor said when he got to her, "what the hell was that?"

"That, Taylor, is me putting a slut in her place. Can believe I broke up Gabriella for her?" Troy asked.

"No, I don't, but Troy…" she said.

"What?" he asked.

"If you ask me that question one more time, I'll have to kill you," she answered.

Troy grinned and hugged her. "Thanks a bunch for everything," he said just as Chad walked up.

"Now isn't this an emotional moment? Well, I'm breaking it up. Hug your own girlfriend, Bolton, 'cause, I'm taking mine to the dance floor," Chad said. He kissed his girlfriend, just as he led her to the dance floor.

Troy saw Gabriella sitting in his favorite armchair, looking exhausted. He walked towards her. "Hey," he said before he kissed her.

"Hey yourself. Did you enjoy your dance with Brooke?" she asked.

"Every moment of it," he said as he sat down. He looked over to the dance floor, which was packed. "I think the party was a huge success."

Gabriella looked at him. "I agree," she said.

"What do you say we ditch this party?" he asked.

"Troy, you are throwing this party! You just can't leave in the middle of a party you're throwing. Unless," she said, "it's really, really boring."

He smiled, "Then, why don't we just go outside then? That doesn't count as ditching, does it?"

Gabriella got up. "No, I guess it doesn't."

They walked out the front door. No one noticed them leaving, especially all their friends, who were all busy making out with their significant others. They looked up at the beautiful moon. "It's so perfect," Gabriella said.

"Yeah it is," Troy said. 'Hey, Gabi, I have something to give you,"

She looked at him. "What is it?" she asked. Troy took out a ring box. 'What the…? Troy, what age did I say I wanted to get married?"

Troy smiled. "Twenty-six," he answered.

"Then what is that?" she asked, pointing at the box.

"This isn't an engagement ring," Troy said as he opened the box, which contained a diamond ring with a platinum band. "I promised you I'd never leave you. So, this is symbolizes my promise. Who says we won't get married?" Gabriella arched one eyebrow at him. **(AN- That is so hard to do!!!!! I've tried and tried, but I still can't do it very nicely! Can any of you do it?)** "Anyways, I'll get you a new ring when that happens," he said

She looked up puzzled. "New ring?" she asked.

"This was my great-grandmother's. It's a Bolton family heirloom," he explained.

She looked at the ring with tears welling up in her eyes. "It's so beautiful," she said.

Troy took the ring out, "Look what it has engraved on it,"

Gabriella took the ring from him, and inspected the interior of the ring. It said, "_I love you, and I promise to for the rest of our lives."_ Gabriella looked up.

Troy said, "My great-grandparents were crazy about each other. When my great-grandmother died, my great-grandfather lasted for only a few more days. He couldn't bear being away from her," **(AN- The part about his Troy's great-grandparents are based on my great-grandparents. The part about the death is true, too. I thought it was really sweet.)**

"We're going to be like that Troy, I promise you that," Gabriella said as Troy slipped the ring on her finger. She kissed him. "It will be perfect," Gabriella thought.

_(I just swear that I'll always be there.  
I'd give anything and everything and I will always care.  
Through weakness and strength, happiness and sorrow,  
for better or worse, I will love you with  
every beat of my heart.)  
From this moment life has begun  
From this moment you are the one  
Right beside you is where I belong  
From this moment on_

From this moment I have been blessed  
I live only for your happiness  
And for your love I'd give my last breath  
From this moment on

I give my hand to you with all my heart  
Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start  
You and I will never be apart  
My dreams came true because of you

From this moment as long as I live  
I will love you, I promise you this  
There is nothing I wouldn't give  
From this moment on

You're the reason I believe in love  
And you're the answer to my prayers from up above  
All we need is just the two of us  
My dreams came true because of you

From this moment as long as I live  
I will love you, I promise you this  
There is nothing I wouldn't give  
From this moment  
I will love you as long as I live  
From this moment on

**AN- **Sniff, sniff. The story is over. I thought I'd end the story with lots of fluff. The song was "From this Moment" by Shania Twain. You can check out what the girls' dresses looked like on my profile. Also, I have an idea for another HSM story with the same couples. It will take place in ten years. It's going to be about the handling the struggles of marriage, while being celebrities. I'll probably start writing that in a week when my Christmas break starts. I just have one question. Should I keep Reese as Ryan's wife or should I make up a new character? I'll only start when I get enough opinions. Please review!


End file.
